On what would have been Wimbledon finals weekend Tennis legend John McEnroe has been talking to BBC Sport’s Sue Barker, trying to get his head around lockdown life and his hopes that the US Open tournament could still happen this year, despite the Coronavirus situation in the United States which he says is “getting worse and bordering on freaking out.”
“Will the US Open go ahead? That’s what all tennis players and fans want – I put myself in both those categories” Knowing how weird it’s going to be, no fans.
It’ll be a “wait and see” for the next month, At this present time if you ask me, I still think its going to happen.
Despite my personal feelings about it being without fans,I think it’s better for our sport if we just get on with it at an event that matters.
You’re seeing some exhibitions,players playing on private courts, it seems abysmal to me. Then you’re seeing players like Djokovic “wait a second – is this going on right now? There’s crowds of people,,, that was strange to see, so not surprisingly that didn’t end too well.
Hopefully people will learn from that.
It’s bizarre, it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever been through right now.
This thing is beyond belief right now, and it seems to be getting worse in the States so everyone’s worried, bordering on freaking out.
Sue Barker added “we’ve spoken to Rafa and Simona Halep and they are not sure yet whether they want to go, not just for the tennis, but whether they want to take the risk travelling there”
Big Mac continued “I believe the players have the luxury of not going on commercial aircraft now, and I think they are going to be as safe as they can possibly hope for.
There’s a lot at stake for the USTA. There’s a lot at at stake for the tournament.
The question is going to be if, when, players test positive, what’s going to happen then? I guess they are going to have to withdraw from the tournament and how isolated were they from other players in the tournament? This opens up a whole scenario. There’s going to be a lot of scenarios that are going to have to be dealt with at the time.
If you had told me when we left Australia (after Australian Open 2020) you and I were going to be sitting here at this time talking on Zoom, which I had never heard of, I would have said “what was that phrase someone used in in 1981? I believe it started with “you” (can not be serious) I cannot believe this is happening, it’s pretty depressing. This is a big day for the men’s game when they play the semis and they go out, it’s a bummer.
McEnroe ended with “Tell Tim & Boris “not to talk so much next time”
